The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1887-04-15

According to the statement given at the
treasury departments about 100000 trade
dollars will probably be redeemed. It is pos
siDle to estimate what this amount of silver
means. Supposing the trade dollar to be of
tie same weight as the standard dollar-and
it weighs, as I have stated, seven and half
grains more-30, 900, 900 would weigh 500 tons,
and as ton is good load for two horse
team it would take 800 horses to haul them
The actuary of the treasury, the man who
does much of the big figuri for the govern
m.nt, estimates the weight of 900, 900 stand
ard dollars at twenty six and thrpe-quarter
tons of $50 pounds avoirlupois each. He
says 81 100 O00 in gold weighs one and two
third tons, and 81 900, QUO in niclses weighs
100 tons
This immense amount of money will neces-
state the building of II new treasury vault. as
the old ones are now filled with silver. !
visited them this afternoon. All but one are
,,krd . th-r utmost. There is room for
out $G,000.tW0 more. The treasury has re-
,.ived $l2,O00,000 within the last three
months, and it averages now 81 zoo, 600 a
week. or nearly 300, 900 day. The only
vault left is one that is set aside for
subsidiary coinage. This has been given
up to standard silver dollars, the subsidiary
now about $40, 600, 600 in it. stood within it
to-day and watched them pack the silver
pile upon pile. The silver is kept in bags of
white linen duck. They are about the
size Of a schoolboy's sachel, and each one
holds just 1000 silver dollars They are tied
with strings at the top, and each bag weighs
sixty pounds. The letters "U. s" are stamped
in black on the bags, which are weighed when
they come in, and the bags are counted again
and again as they are put away. The piling
Of these bags is as careful work as the most
scientific masonry. They have to be piled up
very skillfully, as the silver moves about very
MUCH and they would otherwise break out
the iron and stone walls of the vault. Even
as it is tho silver is continually moving about
in the bags, and you may hear it creak and
clink as the dollars move this way and that
at the change of pressure. This creaking
goes on continually even after the vaults are
full.
These bags are so piled that they overlap
each other. and / give you here sketch
showing how these tons of silver dollars are
packed away. The sketch is from the
subsidiary silver vault. This vault is about
sixteen by twenty feet in size, or as large as a
good sized city parlor. 1t is divided into >.
compartments by iron lattice work, and theE
pressure against this lattice work is so strong
that one compartment cannot be filled
before the other. As it is, these bags can
only be piled thirty tiers high, and they do
not reach to the ceiling by several feet If
they were piled higher they would burst
the steel walls Of the vault, and when you re-
member that these walls are six inches thick.
you can appreciate the immense pressure
Now a load of silver is brought in to be
piled away. The bags are packed ON little
cart which does not look any bigger than
boys play wagon, but which contains $25,OOl
in twenty-five white canvas bags That
little wagon is carrying 1900 pounds of
silver. 1t is hauled right into the vault, and
two colored laborers deftly pack the bags
away, and as the men work the money cIinks
with music that would delight any miser.
These piles are almost as compact as though
they were of solid silver.
***
The great bullion vault, however, is down